A design of a listening class with videos， checklists and communicative activities by using Prezi

鄧林竹

1. Introduction

Recent years have witnessed numerous studies on how to improve learners listening comprehension and how to effectively teach listening. Despite these efforts， some problems still exist（the scarcity of two-way listening activities； the lack of authenticity of audios， the absence of teaching listening skills）. This essay uses the software Prezi to present a design of an English listening class with ICT which incorporates two-way communicative activities like jigsaw， visual aids such as videos， awareness-raising checklists of listening strategies with a view of promoting communication and raising students metacognitive awareness of strategy use. The pros and cos of this listening class will be discussed， followed by a conclusion in the end.

2. Actual class

Duration： 90 minutes （two sessions）

Audience： the targeted audience is the third year English major students around age 19-20

Class size：32-36 students

My teaching aims are for the learners to be able：

（1） To develop a very clear understanding of non-verbal communication

（2） To learn the new vocabulary and phrases of describing body language and know how to use them.

（3） To learn how to reproduce the information that theyve listened.

（4） To learn to cooperate with other students to achieve the same purpose.

（5） To learn listening strategies and practice them for the other listening materials.

Presentation medium： Prezi （see Class link in Appendix I）.

Class arrangement

The class takes place at a multi-media computer lab which can be controlled by teachers to switch on and off the screens， change volumes and alter listening format between videos and audios. The classroom has 36 seats with an aisle in the middle.

Class procedure

At the beginning of the class， I will ask students to discuss several questions to guide them thinking about the definition of the body language， how important is the body language and in what occasions does body language matter. After their schemata have been stimulated， the first video about the introduction of body language will be played， and then students have to answer some questions relating the video. The reason for using videos as the visual aids for the listening class is because they are indispensable part of authenticity （Lynch， 2009）.Then the first listening strategy checklist adapted from Metacognitive Awareness Listening Qustionnaire （Vandergrift et al， 2006） will be introduced for students to check whether they have used these strategies during the listening materials or not.

The second video is about body language in the office， some questions will be asked to give students chance to guess the answers， then the video will be played for the first time and then answers to the pre-listening questions will be discussed， before the second listening， another checklist with listening strategies will be presented to remind students to employ these skills in the second listening. During the second playing of the video， I will use the technique of “pause and predict” （Wilson， 2009： 120） to introduce important phrases and explain difficult words for my students.

Based on “two-way listening” construct which is to combine receptive listening skill with productive speaking skill（Lynch， 2009） in an English listening class，the next main activity is the jigsaw activity. Jigsaw activity is one of most effective ways in promoting negotiation and communication between students in language classes （Pica et al， 1993）. The class will be divided into two groups separated by aisle in the classroom， students on the left will be assigned as group A and the other side as B. group A and B will watch two different videos. For each video， there will be one group watching without listening and the other group listening without watching. Their roles will switch in the second video. In this case each group will be guaranteed listen and watch different video materials. After the first listening， I will ask half of students in group A to swap the seats with half of the students in group B. So students can work in pairs with one student from each group. Then， they will have to exchange the information they have watched and seen based on three comprehension questions， after discussion， the pair of students will have to judge true and false statements. They have to work together and come to agreed answers. For the second time， I will ask them to watch the videos together to check their answers together.

We then will proceed to the last checklist， students will be asked how many strategies they have used throughout the class. For those who havent tried out all the strategies I will ask them to try to use the rest of strategies in the last video about a study on facial expression. In the end， I will give some advice about the listening exercises outside of the classroom.

3. Evaluation

My way of evaluating my design is by asking several of my colleagues to watch the Prezi design and to provide my with some feed backs. Their responses can be categorized into the following three aspects：

To begin with， my design has successfully made them notice the use of strategy checklists. They all mentioned that the use of strategy checklists is very innovative and very interesting method. Giving students time to think about their use of strategies during the class can attract more attention from students and will very likely to raise students awareness towards of strategy-using.

There is a lot of discussion about the videos that I have chosen.

The first discussion is about the speed of the speeches in the video. Some believe the first listening video is too fast， students may find it difficult to follow； some others hold the view that even though the speech rate is fast but from what I have designed， each video will be played twice which will probably lower down the level of difficulty in comprehension that has caused by speech rate. The researches on the relationship between speech rate and the second language comprehension present rather mixed results. Anderson-Hsieh and Koehler （1988） find that the second language listener can generally understand more when a text is read at lower speed. More specifically， Griffith discovers the speech rate that is faster than 200 words per minute poses more difficulties for intermediate level listeners than that under 200w/m. However， Berquist （1994） observes that for intermediate and advanced listeners， pauses in the speech is more important than the speech rate. Therefore， whether fast speech rate will affect students comprehension or not still need more researches to find out.

Another discussion about the video is in terms of difficulty degrees and students interest. One of my colleagues suggests that listening materials should be moved from easier one to more difficult one. Since the second video is the most difficult one. It is better to exchange the second video with the third and fourth videos. Just as Richard et al advice that “A content-based sequence…can be sequenced according to increasing difficulty or cognitive demands” （2012： 128）. As for the students interests， one colleague showed her concerns for my Jigsaw activity. She doubts that whether students will be fully engaged in watching without listening. In addition， she points out that the importance of classroom management， as this activity involves big movement among 30 students， the techniques such as how to give clear order， how to draw students attention， how to encourage students to talk etc are necessary for a successful lesson to be carried out.

4. Conclusion

In this essay， I have used the Prezi as a medium to present a listening class about body language with videos， communicative activities and checklists of strategies. The goal is to promote speaking among students and raise their awareness of listening strategies. Due to the lack of classroom trial， it seems that I have achieved this goal in the design but the effectiveness of the practical classroom practice still remain to be proved.

References：

[1]ANDERSON-HSIEH，J.& K.KOEHLER.1988.“The effect of foreign accent and speaking rate on native speaker comprehension.” Language Learning.Vol.38，no 4，pp561-613.

[2]BERQUIST，B.1994.“Memory models applied to L2 Comprehension：A search for common ground” in G.Taillefer and A.pugh（eds.）.Reading in the University：First，Second and Foreign Languages.Toulouse：Presses de lUniversite des Sciences Sociales de Toulouse.

[3]LYNCH，T.2009.Teaching Second Language Listening.Oxford University Press.

[4]Pica，T.，Kanagy，R.，& Falodun，J.1993.Choosing and using communication tasks for second language instruction.Tasks and Language Learning：Integrating Theory and Practice.Vol 1.（pp.9-34）.Clevedon，England：Multilingual Matters.

[5]RICHARDS，J.C，BURNS，A & BROWN，D.2012.Tips for Teaching Listening：A practical approach.Pearson.

[6]VADERGRIFT，I & GOH，C.M.2012.Teaching and Learning Second Language Listening：Metacognition in Action.Routledge

[7]WILSON，J.J.2009.How to teach listening.Pearson Longman.

Appendix I：

Class Link：http：//prezi.com/6tzkis5fwph9/listening-for-details-body-langauge/

【基金項目】1.本文系湖南省教育廳科學研究項目“基于模因理論的翻譯生態機制研究”（項目編號：15C0675）的部分成果；2.本文系湖南省教育廳科學研究項目（編號：14C0553）的部分成果；3.本文系2016年湖南省高等學校教學改革項目（編號：256）的部分成果；4.本文系湖湖南農業大學2016年校級教改項目“基于模因論的雅思課程FCM范式研究與實踐” （項目編號：B2016039）的部分成果。